In N.Y.C., More Abortions Than Live Births For Black Women

Data from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reveals that black women had more abortions than live births in 2012. While the city’s abortion rate has declined to the lowest since the Supreme Court legalized the procedure in its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, it remains well above the national average.

Whereas black women delivered 24,758 live births, Hispanic women produced over 10,000 more. White women in New York City, on the other hand, gave birth to the highest number of live babies at 39,112.

As far as pregnancy terminations, black children who were aborted comprised 42.4 percent of the total number of abortions in New York City. In 2012, out of 73,815 abortions in the city, 31,328 black babies were aborted.

Hispanic women came in second behind their black counterparts as far as abortions at 31 percent.

White women were at the tail end of the abortion chart with 9,704, or 13 percent who opted to have the procedure.

The statistics show the city’s abortion rate dropped 8.6 percent from 2011, and it has decreased 19 percent since 2003 and 22 percent since 2000.

Asians and Pacific Islander women had the lowest number of abortions according to the data, with 4,493 recorded among the group.